Bhubaneswar: Voicing concern over the Odisha Assembly getting stalled by Biju Janata Dal (BJD) members, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Jayanarayan Mishra on Saturday raised questions over alleged influence of former bureaucrat V K Pandian over proceedings in the House.
The BJP heavyweight claimed that his observation was based on the conversations he had with several JD legislators in the Assembly lobby.
The BJD leaders reportedly indicated that decisions were often taken on the basis of instructions from Pandian, Mishra claimed, expressing concern over the potential and inappropriate influence of an external individual over the Assembly’s business.
The statement of Mishra, a former Minister, came in the wake of uproarious scenes being witnessed in the Assembly during the current budget session. Though the government was ready for discussion after the opposition moved an adjournment motion, the proceedings of the House were being disrupted since Friday, Mishra said.
Taking a swipe at the BJD, the BJP leader claimed that there is an ongoing competition among the leaders of the regional party to get close to Pandian and become his ‘closest aide’.
“BJD MLAs had told me about this. When the Speaker allowed the adjournment motion on farmers’ issue, the BJD stalled the House proceedings. The BJD leaders are working on the instruction of Pandian,” he claimed.
He said people of Odisha were witness to the work of BJD leaders in the past when some of them were busy in serving food, arranging chairs and tents.
Refuting the claims made by Mishra as false, opposition chief whip Pramila Mallik has demanded that the comments made by Jayanarayan Mishra during assembly session be expunged.
Accusing Mishra of making up stories, she and insisted that the names of non-members should be struck from the statements.
Mallik maintained that BJD president and Leader of Opposition (LoP) is the undisputed leader of the party and he takes all decisions of the organisation. She asked Mishra to disclose the names of BJD leaders who gave him the so called information about Pandian’s role.
